am8117

Lots of early day cantis came with V-brake style pads, however many CX specific cantis seem to be designed for road brake pads instead.

Funnily, some early day cantis come originally with thin and longer (than road) pads, but symmetrical (as road ones are), but the cartridge type replacement pads always hold what are very much V-brake style (asymmetrical) pads.

What are the reasons for this? Pros and cons of each?

shelbyfv

Which style does your bike have?

am8117

As of now it’s a spoon brake, so mulling the upgrade options.

CliffordK

One of the issues with the pads is fork and seatstay clearance. Shorter pads (or off center pads) may stay away from the says. Longer pads may overlap with the fork or stays.

Pressure per square inch (or your favorite area) may also be less for the longer pads, and the braking force may be similar for different pad shapes.

My last set of long skinny pads had very thin pad material and wore much faster than I would have liked.

am8117

There’s something about that (symmetry and clearance) although cantis having been mostly surviving on the CX bikes it’s not that horrible.

The thing is that most modern cantis replaced the separate straddle cable with the V shaped one with one half being fixed anchored piece and the other a guide for the brake cable. When unhooked the side with fixing bolt clamped directly on the main brake cable won’t go completely free to move away for enough clearance to remove the tire, no matter if the pad is thin or short to completely clear the seat stay. Annoying the fixing bolt is typically on the drive side where the seat stay gives even more clearance. Some people deflate the tire, some unhook the main housing piece from the hanger, but I never really understood this move from traditional straddle cable to the V shaped kind.

am8117

The other thing with asymmetric pads is they always go longer towards the rear so if that helps seat stays clearance it’s worse in the fork and vice versa. I know it doesn’t have to be the same style pair front and rear but well …

bboy314

I think this straddle switch was done to avoid the risk of a yoke failure causing the straddle cable to hit the tire and lock the wheel up. A metal reflector bracket can also help prevent this type of accident with a traditional straddle cable.

Rolla

Sheldon Brown explains the advantage of the V-shaped "link wire" like this:

"In fact, however, the link wire is generally a superior system. Unlike traditional transverse cables that curve over the yoke when the brake is not being applied, link wire systems keep all cable segments running straight. This reduces wasted motion, and allows a better brake adjustment."

79pmooney

Any time I run across a link-wired canti, the first thing I do is replace it with a traditional cable and straddle. Sheldon's opinion isn't going to change my approach.

am8117

It does make sense but then I wonder if that’s the real reason and not negligible. It makes it easier to put it on a production line, less setup necessary and well no worries about liability for locked front wheels as most CX bikes would be sold without fenders or hanger with a hook.

But high end cantis come with usual straddle cable still … avid shorty ultimate had one and it’s not like avid can’t make it without it

Rolla

Dunno. Sheldon wasn't infallible, but he certainly had more knowledge than me.

Some CX bikes use a fork-mounted cable stop that doubles as a straddle cable catcher.

My IRD Cafams came with link wires, but my Pauls have a straddle cable. Both are fairly high-end. They're all dinosaurs, anyway!

dsbrantjr

Or even a loop of twine, anything that keeps the cable out of the tire.